


a moment's respite

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: me sobbing about critical role [105]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Drabble, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Huddling For Warmth, Light Angst, Minific, Platonic Cuddling, Pre-Stream (Critical Role)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 05:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20253220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife





	a moment's respite

Nott has been traveling with the wizard- _because that’s what he is, with his magic and books and glyphs and the thought fills Nott with hope, that maybe, maybe, if she just stays long enough, is useful enough, he could _fix her- for seven weeks. 

They’d been thrown into jail just as autumn was coming to an end- _twenty three days, four hours ago, Caleb said, and Nott would’ve been inclined to think he was making it up except Caleb never really joked, just, stated facts. The only times she’d really seen him, animate, come alive, were when they managed to get into a bookstore in one of the towns they’d passed through, and boy had that been jarring, to see something like a spark of passion in his eyes as he scanned the titles_\- and by the time they’d escaped, winter had arrived. 

Nott doesn’t wonder about Felderwin’s Harvest Close festival. She doesn’t wonder if Yeza and Luc are going, if her husband will win her son a stuffed toy like he did for Veth, doesn’t think about the candied apples they had a tradition of sharing. Instead, Nott thinks about the wizard in front of her, who is shivering even under his thick coat and ratty scarf, and if she’s honest she’s shaking like a leaf, too. 

Caleb is curled up with Frumpkin at the base of a large oak tree, and there is room for another, if another were a relatively small goblin. Nott isn’t sure if they’re close enough for this, isn’t sure that Caleb won’t just shove her away, or if he’ll shut down, or if Frumpkin will attack her, but she’s cold enough to take the risk. 

Over the next thirty minutes, Nott slowly inches closer to Caleb’s position. He doesn’t notice, and neither does Frumpkin. She’s on watch and the cold makes both of them drowsy, and so when she finally scooches close enough to make contact, she feels him jump in surprise. 

Despite her instincts telling her to flee, to hide, Nott moves closer, until she could be mistaken for a traveling pack at a distance, she huddles with Caleb. 

“It’s _cold_,” is all the explanation she gives, to hopefully make him less tense. 

It takes just as long as it took her to approach, but the stiffness in his limbs fades away. Nott doesn’t let herself fall asleep- she _is_ on watch, and Caleb is a wizard with the constitution of his cat- but she watches the snowflakes fall. 

There’s a certain kind of calm, in the stillness of the forest. The snow piles up on the trees’ branches, and there are no birds nesting to disturb it. The sun had set long ago, but with Nott’s darkvision and the addition of moonlight, she can watch the snow fall all night long. 


End file.
